Month: August 2012

From the Philly Post:

Last weekend, Philadelphia’s Department of Licenses and Inspections, an agency not usually known for its transparency and user-friendliness, unveiled a new web app that displays licensing, permit and violation information on a (relatively) easy-to-use interactive map. One of the more interesting aspects to this new data transparency is an array of gun permit appeals, essentially a list of Philadelphians who have been denied a gun permit or had their permit revoked and who have appealed to have the decision overturned.

This is completely illegal, and there are penalties. Allow me to point you to the Uniform Firearms Act of Pennsylvania, and the Pennsylvania Code. From the UFA:

(i) Confidentiality.–All information provided by the potential purchaser, transferee or applicant, including, but not limited to, the potential purchaser, transferee or applicant’s name or identity, furnished by a potential purchaser or transferee under this section or any applicant for a license to carry a firearm as provided by section 6109 shall be confidential and not subject to public disclosure. In addition to any other sanction or penalty imposed by this chapter, any person, licensed dealer, State or local governmental agency or department that violates this subsection shall be liable in civil damages in the amount of $1,000 per occurrence or three times the actual damages incurred as a result of the violation, whichever is greater, as well as reasonable attorney fees.

If I were one of these people listed, I’d be filing the lawsuit right now. This is unconscionable. The criminals that run that city clearly think they are above the law. I say we ought to show them who can get away with what. I count at least $29,000 dollars worth of violations here, and attorneys fees will probably drive that higher by orders of magnitude. They should be made to pay for this.

I’m glad to see outdoor writers clearing the air in regards to AR rifles, and telling the truth about them, including explaining the recent surge in sales. Looks like they interviewed State Rep. Bryan Cutler for this article, speaking of his bill, H.B. 347, which would open the door to legal semi-auto rifle hunting in Pennsylvania:

State Rep. Bryan Cutler, of Peach Bottom, is one hunter and gun enthusiast who joined the AR craze. Cutler built his own .223-caliber AR by getting the various parts and creating a custom gun. “That’s something I just always wanted to do,” he said. Cutler uses his AR for target shooting, and hopes to one day shoot it competitively. “I’ve always had an interest in the three-gun competition, so maybe I’ll get into that somewhere down the road when my schedule allows it.”

In a three-gun competition, shooters work through a tactical course, firing a handgun, shotgun and AR rifle at targets. Cutler also hopes to someday be allowed to use his AR for hunting varmints and predators in Pennsylvania. He’s a co-sponsor of House Bill 347, which would legalize the use of “any semi-automatic rimfire rifle, .22 caliber or less, for the taking of coyotes, foxes or woodchucks,” the bill states. The bill is intended to crack the door for using semi-automatic rifles for hunting here.

I’d work hard to keep any politician that was actually interested in three gun and built his own AR. That’s a rare breed in politics. His bill only legalizes semi-auto rimfire in .22 or less, and obviously we’d eventually like to see centerfire semi-automatic rifles hunting legal in Pennsylvania, but baby steps. Read the whole article. It’s pretty refreshing to see something like this in the main stream media.